Stolen Affection
by SeRiaL SniPeR
Summary: Ryoma always pretend to ignore Sakuno. But what if Sakuno decided just to ignore her feelings for Ryoma and accidentally turned her attention to another guy. Will Ryoma still pretend to ignore what he feel?...Hey Friends! Please Read and Review! n n
1. The Box of Cookies

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Prince of Tennis.

**_Sakuno already want to give up and forget Ryoma but still she find it very difficult to do. Until a new guy came into her life. Will this guy can help Sakuno to forget Ryoma or will just worsen the situation. Please read and review! I really love RyoSaku pairing so I hope you'll like it! _**

**Chapter 1: The Box of Cookies**

"What ?" Tomoka exclaimed in disbelief. "You don't want Ryoma-kun anymore?"

"Uhmm… no! It's not actually what I mean… I-it's just…" Sakuno paused for awhile.

"Just what? Are you giving up?"

"No!" Sakuno tried to managed her voice. "…I mean… I don't know…"

A pearl of tears started to fall from her eyes.

"Maybe… I'm just tired of following him… I also done everything just to become close to him…yet…he still ignore me…"

"Sakuno! Willl you stop thinking like that! We all know that that Ryoma-kun is really cold to everyone even into his own family!"

"Yeah…that's why I've decided to moved on… I'm tired of his coldness and… I think… he would not change anymore… I think… I'm just wasting my time on him!" her voice cracked.

"So… what are you planning to do now?"

"…F-from now on… I'll just treat him just like how I treated the other regulars… I'll try to forget him!"

"Please don't try…"

"T-tomo?!"

"Just do it! Ok?"

Sakuno wiped her tears. "Ok! Thanks Tomo!"

"Lets go home now!"

"Hai!"

The next morning all the regulars are practicing for their next match.

"Ochibi! Brace your self, I'll serve the ball now!" Kikumaru yelled.

"Shut up! Just serve it!" Ryoma yelled back.

"Hey! Hey! Looks like our Kohai is hot headed today!" Momo interrupted Kikumaru who was going to serve the ball. He went to Ryoma and patted the boy. "Maybe because his girlfriend isn't around! Right, Echizen?"

"Baka Momo-senpai!" Ryoma retorted. "I don't have any girlfriend and I don't even plan to have one!"

"Ne-! How about Sakuno-chan?" Kikumaru beamed mischievously.

The tennis prince just give his senpai a sharp glare.

"I bet, later on Sakuno-chan will come and bring cookies for ochibi! He! he! he!"

"Right! Tsk! Tsk! Too young!"

Then Momo and Kikumaru beamed to each other. They really want to make Ryoma annoyed. And they partially made it.

While they were busy on teasing the tennis prince, a petite brown haired girl appeared in the scene.

"Ohayou gozaimasu senpais!"

The two boys halted from their position. On the other hand, the tennis prince just continued to practice by himself and pretend to ignore the arrival of the girl.

"Uhmm…speaking of the angel!" Momo whispered.

"Pardon Momo-senpai?" Sakuno uttered.

"Ah…uhm…nothing!"

"By the way…" Kikumaru said while beaming charmly. "Are you looking for Coach Ryuzaki?"

"Iie! I went here just to give these cookies to all the regulars!" Sakuno handed two bags of cookies for her two senpai. "I made this all by myself…I hope you'll like it." Sakuno said shyly.

"Uhmm…Arigato gozaimasu!" The two older boys said while exchanging meaningful look. They were really surprised because usually, Ryoma is the one who always received first the cookies from Sakuno before somebody else.

Meanwhile, the tennis prince is still pretending uninterested but listening furtively to the conversation between the three people behind him.

"Anou… how about Echizen?" Momo said while looking at Kikumaru then again to Sakuno.

Upon hearing Momo's question. Ryoma's body ceased to function and because of that he missed the ball. He became really interested to Sakuno's answer.

"Nya- I'm sure you also made cookies especially for ochibi, right?" Kikumaru added.

"Uhm…Of course!" Sakuno said cheerfully. _"Oh my God!__ This is it! I can do this! I should avoid shyness and blushing or any odd movement! Just do it Sakuno!" _

"Uhm…here it is!" Then the girl handed Ryoma another bag of cookies. The bag of cookies is also same as what the other two boys received.

The tennis prince felt a bit surprised and disappointment because the girl didn't blush and can now even look into his eyes directly. Unlike the other day around wherein she can't even utter a word because of shyness or maybe because of him.

But sill he don't want to admit to himself (and to Sakuno) that he also love the attention he get from that girl and he also want to received cookies from her.

"Don't bother your self anymore! I'm not hungry!" Then Ryoma turned his head to other direction to show that he is uninterested.

"Ochibi!" Kikumaru retorted.

"Hey! Echi-"

"It's ok senpai!" Sakuno cut off Momo. "I think he don't really like sweet stuffs! Maybe I'll just give these cookies to another person I know!" Sakuno tried to cheer up her voice. But she really has different thought. _"Ryoma-kun! I think this is the 24th time you rejected my offer! And its still hurts! Too bad!"_

"Uhmm… well, lets forget about it!" Sakuno still tried to speak casually. "Senpai…did you know where can I find the other regulars?"

"Uhu! Maybe they were still at the locker room!" Momo was the one who answered.

"Ok! Thanks a lot!"

"Nya- see you around!" Kikumaru yelled.

Then Sakuno left. The three boys were still perplexed.

"Momo! I think Sakuno-chan is acting weird today!" Kikumaru said silently to Momo.

"Yeah! There's something unusual about her! Usually, she always looks miserable every time Ryoma refused to accept her cookies but now it seems that it doesn't bother her anymore!"

"Probably!"

While the two boys were busy chatting with each other, Ryoma decided to go to other place for awhile because his feeling become sour after the arrival of Sakuno.

_"What's the matter with her?" _Ryoma said to himself.

**_That's it for the first chapter! Thanks for reading! I''ll really appreciate if you leave reviews even a suggestions and criticism! I really want to improve my writng! Please R&R! Once again "Domo arigato gozaimasu/ Maraming Salamat /Thank you very much!... to all of you!" nn…see you in the next chapter!_**


	2. The New Guy

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Prince of Tennis.

**_Here it is! I hope you'll enjoy! _**

**_To sayu-chan25: thank you for reading and for the review friend! _**

**_To writeroflove0.0: thanks for the review friend! hey do you really love chocolates, _**

**_ sorry but I don't have any chocolates here, only a mouse and a _**

**_ keyboard.. _**

**Chapter 2: The New Guy**

After giving the last set of cookies to other regulars, Sakuno walked home while looking at the bag of cookies (which supposed to be the bag of cookies for Ryoma).

"What should I do with this now?"

FLASHBACK

"I know he don't really want sweet stuffs! Maybe I'll just give these cookies to another person I know!"

END OF FLASHBACK

_"I hope he don't really like sweet stuffs…or maybe…he just simply don't want to accept any food that comes from me…too bad…Now I need to give these cookies to the person I said earlier…the person whom I know…w-whom I know?" _She paused for awhile. _"…but I've already gave cookies to all person I know…ohhh…really too bad!"_

"Hey! Look out!" A yelled from behind interrupted her reverie.

"Wh-." Before she can utter a word, she was already pushed by someone.

She closed her eyes tightly. Then she heard a crashed of a vehicle. After a second, she realized that someone was breathing abruptly near her. She opened her eyes. She tried to clear her vision until she found a red haired boy lying beside her.

"Oh no! W-what happened?" She tried to wake up the boy.

"Uhmm…" The boy opened his eyes and when he saw Sakuno, he immediately rose from his position and grabbed the girl's hand. "A-are you alright?"

Sakuno became really surprised.

"Uhmm…Hai!" She beamed shyly. "H-how about you?"

"Of course! I'm alright!" Then the boy stood up. He held the hand of Sakuno to assist her. "See?" He added.

While looking at the jolly face of the boy, Sakuno noticed a red fluid flowing in the face of the boy.

"Oh my God! Y-you've got wounded! Gomen-nasai! Gomen-nasai!" Said Sakuno while fighting a sob.

"N-no! I'm ok! Don't worry!"

"Let me cure you… Let's have a sit on that bench…" Sakuno dragged the boy to the nearby bench. The boy can't do anything but to follow.

Sakuno wiped the blood from the boys wound. Then she used her ribbon to stop the bleeding.

"Thank you!" The boy said cheerfully.

"Uhmm…no! I should be the one who should say that…thank you very much and…sorry for all the troubles!"

"Well…it's my pleasure to help you!"

"Thanks"

"By the way… my name is Kintarou Tooyama…what's yours?"

"I-im Sakuno Ryuzaki!"

Also on that time the tennis prince decided to have a walk in the park to put out in his mind the awful incident about Sakuno that happened earlier. Suddenly, the two people sharing in one bench caught his attention.

_"They look familiar…" _Ryoma move a little closer to the two people to figure them out clearly. _"Hn..that's Ryuzaki and … who's that guy?" _While observing he accidentally heard the conversation of the two.

"Will you please accept this?" Ryoma saw Sakuno handing a bag of cookies to the boy. "I am the one who made this… I hope you'll like it!" Sakuno added.

Cheerful mood on the face of the boy increased.

"Y-you mean it's for me?"

"Hai!" Sakuno said shyly.

"Domo Arigato!"

"Your're welcome!"

Ryoma realized that his feeling became sour again on that time so he decided just to go home. While he was walking, he can't stop himself on thinking about Sakuno and the strange guy.

FLASHBACK

"Will you please accept this? I am the one who made this… I hope you'll like it!"

"Y-you mean it's for me?"

"Hai!"

END OF FLASHBACK

His face loomed as annoyance stifled his heart.

_"So that's the guy whom those cookies really meant for!...Maybe he's also the reason why Ryuzaki acting strange today…Maybe those cookies is really reserved for that guy and not for me…Baka Ryuzaki! Who do you think you are…Why do you still need to pretend in front of our Senpai that you made those cookies for me…So what, if you don't include me to the list of person whom you want to give cookies, I don't care! And we're not that close anyway! "_

Ryoma lowered his cap and continued to walk. He was really annoyed not only to that strange guy and Sakuno but also to himself because he can't understand what he feel right now and the pain that keep on tearing his heart.

**_That's it for the second chapter! Again Thanks for reading! I''ll really appreciate if you leave reviews even a suggestions and criticism! I really want to improve my writng! Please R&R! Once again "Domo arigato gozaimasu/ Maraming Salamat /Thank you very much!... to all of you!" nn…see you in the next chapter!_**


	3. Undefined Feelings

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Prince of Tennis.

**_Here it is! Thanks for those people who read and review the first two chapters,_**

**_ I really appreciate it!_**

**_I hope you'll enjoy this one! _**

**Chapter 3: Undefined Feelings**

All the regulars have no practice on the next morning but they were all called for a meeting.

"Hey! Do you know what this meeting will be about?" Momoshiro asked Kikumaru.

"Ne- I guess it will be all about our practice for our up coming match to Shitenhouji!" Kikumaru replied.

"Oh look! Echizen, Fuji-senpai and Captain Tezuka are coming!" Momo yelled. "Hey! Captain! Here we are!"

Tezuka just ignored Momo and started to discuss what the meeting is all about. While Fuji and Ryoma just went to the nearby block of stone and sat.

"Ok! Let me start discussing it now!" He begun. "We will be having a practice this coming Saturday but this practice will be held at one of the mountain in Osaka. We will be staying there for one week. Coach Ryuzaki decided to held our practice there because climbing on that mountain can really contribute a lot to improve your stamina, strength, flexibility and other component that you can use to improve your tennis skills."

Momo raised his hand.

"Hey! Captain! How about our food?"

"You don't have to worried about that anymore. I've already appointed someone to manage all the things we will be needing on the trip."

"But wait! How about our other teamates…Why they were not here?" Kikumaru said in a profound tone.

"Inui, Kawamura, Oishi and Kaido can't come with us because they still have papers and project to do but their group will also be having a trip just like us but not this time, maybe after they've accomplished all their paper works!...…Now, is everything clear?"

"Yes!"

"Okay! That's all for today! I hope to see you at the bus stop tomorrow morning at 6 o'clock!"

"Yes Captain!" They said in chorus.

The next morning Sakuno went to the park 20 minutes before 6 o'clock.

_"Ohh…Tomo-chan…where are you now…?" _Said Sakuno to herself while walking nervously back and forth. _"She should be here right now…"_

"Hey! Sakuno-chan!" A familiar voice from behind interrupted her reverie. She turned her head to take a looked to the owner of the voice.

"T-Tooyama Kintarou?"She exclaimed.

"Yay! I'm gald you still remember my name!" The boy gave her a very wide smile. "What are you doing here? Waiting for your boyfriend?"

Her face became red.

"Uhmm… N-no! I-m here becau-" Before she can completes her sentence, the ring of her phone interrupted her. "Uhmm… Please excuse me for awhile!" She said shyly to the boy.

The boy just nodded in returned. He pretended to look to the other side of the park but listened furtively to the girl's conversation on the phone.

"Uhmm…Hello Tomo!"

"Hello Sakuno!" Said the girl in the other line. "I'm sorry but I can't come with you! My parents went to an emergency meeting so I have to take care of my little brothers and sisters! I'm really really sorry Sakuno! Please just apologize me to our captain- " Before Tomoka completed her sentence, the line was been disconnected.

"W-wait Tomo! Hello! Hello!"

Sakuno disappointedly turned off her phone. Her face turned into a gloomy one.

"Oh no what should I do now…" She whispered.

Kintarou immediately noticed it.

"Hey! What's the matter?" He said in a profound tone.

"Uhmm…she can't come!"

"Who?"

"M-my best friend…I think…I will be going to the bus stop alone…"

"May I know where the both of you will be going at this early in the morning?"

"We will be going to one of the mountain in Osaka…"

"O-osaka?" The boy exclaimed. "C-can I-" He paused for a while.

"What?" She asked confusedly.

"Can I be your best friend for a while so that I can come with you at Osaka?"

"D-do you want…to come?"

"Yes!"

"B-but…"

"Please!"

"Uhmm… I think it'll be okay…" She smiled shyly. "Tooyama-kun, I hope you'll behave the moment we're already in Osaka, huh?"

"Yes of course! But, in one condition!" He beamed mischievously.

"Condition?"

"Yup! Will you please call me Kintarou-kun instead of Tooyama-kun! We're now best friend, right?"

"B-best friend? Uhmm…Y-yah! Right!" She beamed harmoniously causing his heart to melt.

"I-I think we better go now!" He grabbed Sakuno's wrist and dragged the girl to the bus stop. "…before I fall for you…" He added silently.

"Pardon? Kintarou-kun?"

"Yay! Uhm…nothing!"

The two of them reached the meeting place 5 minutes before 6 o'clock. Some of the regulars were busy talking with each other outside the bus.

Sakuno immediately blushed when she saw the tennis prince. It didn't escape Kintarou's notice.

"Oi Sakuno!-chan… Who's that guy?" Kintarou whispered while pointing at Ryoma.

"Errr…H-he's Ryoma-kun!...I-I mean Ryoma Echizen!"

"Ryoma-kun? You called him by his first name? As far as I know, only those people who were close have the right to call each other by first name! Are the both of you close with each other? Is he your friend or your boyfriend?"

"Ay…uhmm…N-no! H-he's not my boyfriend!" She said nervously. Then she frowned a bit. "Not even my friend…" She added silently.

"I think you better call him by his surname instead of his first name! You're not close to each other, right?"

"Uhmm…Yah! R-right!" She frowned more. _"Maybe his right…Ryoma-kun and I not even talk to each other so…why I need to act like we're closed…"_

In the meantime, while all of them were still waiting for the others, Sakuno spotted Tezuka.

"Captain!"

Tezuka take a look to the owner of the voice.

"Ryuzaki! What's the matter?"

"Uhmm…I'm sorry Captain but Tomo-chan can't come with us because of some circumstances…" She said shyly.

"It's ok…but how about our food?"

"D-don't worry Captain! I've already accomplished all the things that we will need for our trip!"

Tezuka noticed the boy behind Sakuno. He inspected the boy from head to toe. When he finally realized who the guy in front of him is, his eyes slightly widened.

"K-kintarou Tooyama?!" He exclaimed.

All the regulars paused for a while upon hearing their Captain. The place instantly became surrounded by eerie silence. While Kintarou and Sakuno became very surprised about the sudden reaction they've received from the people around them.

Sakuno decided just to dismiss the silence.

"Uhmm…Captain, Can he join us to our trip?" Her eyes referring to Kintarou.

Momoshiro immediately answered on behalf of his Captain.

"Of course he cannot Ryuzaki! Don't you know, that guy is the super rookie of Shitenhouji Junior High!" Momo whined.

"W-what?" Sakuno uttered silently. Her eyes on Kintarou.

"Shitenhouji Junior High is our next opponent for our upcoming match. Letting him come with us to our practice is same as putting our team at risk!" He added.

"Enough!" Tezuka ordered his teammates. "All of you go now inside the bus! Ryuzaki, Tooyama, you can now go inside."

"You mean Captain; you're allowing him to come with us?" Kikumaru retorted.

"Why? Are you afraid of him?"

"Of course not!"

"Then we should go now!"

Kikumaru can't do anything but to follow his captain.

Meanwhile, Sakuno and Kintarou entered the bus without uttering a word. In their way to their seat at the back, Momoshiro grabbed Kintarou's arm same as Kikumaru who grabbed the wrist of Sakuno. Momo dragged the red haired boy to the seat beside him while Kikumaru dragged his helpless kohai beside Ryoma.

"Nya! Ochibi! I brought your girlfriend here because that guy is stealing her from you!" Kikumaru beamed cheerfully while pointing at Kintarou who just pouted in returned.

"Hey! Hey! Echizen! Don't let your guard down!" Momoshiro beamed mischievously.

Meanwhile, the tennis prince just preferred to ignore his two annoying senpai and gave a deadly glare to Kintarou.

After awhile, he furtively turned his eyes to Sakuno. He caught the girl looking at the super rookie of Shitenhouji Junior High.

A burst of pain immediately filled his heart. But he was so annoyed because he didn't know why this pain occurred.

_"What's this?" _He placed his hand to his chest to feel his heart. "It's tearing……it hurts……I c-can't understand!" He lowered his cap to hide the emotion that started to appeared in his face. After awhile, he decided to manage a statement.

"You brought a spy here!" He said with bitterness in his voice.

Upon hearing it, Sakuno nervously moved her eyes away from Kintarou. Her eyes met his deadly glare. She rapidly turned her head down to avoid his stare.

"I-Im sorry!" She murmured.

When Kintarou realized that Sakuno and Ryoma were having an argument, he immediately speaks up and broke the conversation between the two.

"Hey! Koshime!" Kintarou yelled. "Don't blame Sakuno-chan! It's my fault, not her!"

"You shut up!" Ryoma replied angrily. "You're not involved here! You idiot monkey! You can now go back to the jungle where you belong. And-"

"Echizen!" Ryoma was been cut-off by a yelled from Sakuno. Her voice was so endearing to his senses but her tone killed his heart softly.

He slowly turned his head to the direction of the girl. Their eyes met but the girl immediately move her eyes away from him.

"I-im sorry…" Sakuno continued. "P-please! Don't treat him like this…he is still my friend!"

Then the girl stood up and went to the seat at the back of the bus. Upon seeing the girl, Kintarou immediately followed Sakuno.

On her way to her seat, she still can't keep her self on thinking about what happened._ "What did I've done? It seems that I've preferred to defend Kintarou rather than my own teammate… " _She immediately felt a pang of guilt. _"I-Im sorry……Ryoma-kun…I-I totally lost my self control…I don't really meant to do that...Maybe he's now mad at me…too bad!"_

Meanwhile, the tennis prince is still astounded to what happened. He didn't expect to hear that from shy and timid Sakuno.

_"H-he called me E-echizen…"_ He gave a mocking snort._ "She's really mad at me only for that bastard monkey..?"_ He then again turned his head and furtively looked at the girl who went at the back of the bus only to caught that she was sharing a seat with the annoying guy he really hated. He lowered his cap. _"I don't care…Baka Ryuzaki!" _Ryoma get a can of Ponta in his bag to drawn the feeling that he can't understand. 

**_That's it for the third chapter! I hope this episode wasn't too long! But again Thanks for reading! I''ll really appreciate if you leave reviews even a suggestions and criticism! I really want to improve my writng! Please R&R! Once again "Domo arigato gozaimasu/ Maraming Salamat /Thank you very much!... to all of you!" nn…see you in the next chapter!_**


	4. Senpai to the Rescue

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Prince of Tennis.

**_Here it is! Thanks for those people who read and review the previews chapters,_**

**_ I really appreciate it! _**

**_I hope you'll enjoy this one! _**

**Chapter 4: Senpai to the Rescue**

After the one hour trip, they've finally reached the mountain in Osaka. Now they were walking towards the rented house wherein they will going to live for one week.

"Sakuno-chan!" Kintarou finally uttered to Sakuno after the confrontation in the bus. "I-I'm sorry for not telling you abou-"

"No…don't worry, i-it's not your fault…I'm not mad…"

"Really? You're not mad? Then why you didn't talk to me when we were still inside the bus?" Kinatrou said in a worried tone.

Sakuno begun to smiled sweetly.

"I'm sorry…It just…my mood became sour after the confrontation happened!"

"So, you don't hate me?"

"O-Of course not!"

"Yay!" His face back again to jovial mood. "Arigato gozaimasu! Now I'm relieved!...Uhmm…Sakuno-chan…"

"What?" She asked confusedly.

"Can I-I hold y-your han- " Before Kintarou finished his sentence, he was been cut-off by Ryoma who passed between them.

"Hey…Whatta…" Kintarou growled.

But the tennis prince just ignored him.

"Kintarou-kun! What do you want to say a while ago?" Sakuno continued.

"Err…N-never mind…" The red haired replied tensely.

When Momoshiro and Kikumaru saw what Ryoma does, they immediately rushed beside their kohai.

"Hey Echizen! It seems that you're becoming jealous of that monkey guy! Huh?" Momo whispered.

"Ne- Do you want us to end his life right now?" Kikumaru said teasingly.

The tennis prince just gave his senpai a glare.

"Baka senpai…I'm not jealous or anything…" He said in a non-chalant voice. _"There's no way I would be jealous…it's not in my vocabulary…"_

Then Ryoma left his two senpai behind.

"Poor Ochibi! He can't express what he feels or maybe…he just simply doesn't know how to express it…" Kikumaru whispered to Momoshiro in a profound tone.

"Yah! He can't express it because his ego is so unreachable…I think he would just prefer to die rather than to show any emotion! Sometimes, I hate him from being cold and dense…" Momo replied.

"Ne- So as his senpai and older brothers, our mission is to protect his girlfriend from other guys since he can't do it by himself!"

"G-girlfriend? You mean Sakuno-chan?"

"Hai!... Look at that guy" Kikumaru pointed Sakuno who was on that time, laughing with Kintarou. "We should not let him spend time with my Sakuno-chan…I-I mean with Ochibi's girlfriend! Okay?"

"Do you think it's a good idea?"

"Yup! Trust your Senpai! So, let's do it now!" Kikumaru said cheerfully.

After awhile, Momoshiro went beside Kintarou and dragged the boy apart from Sakuno.

"W-wait Senpai…Where are we going?" Kintarou whined.

"Don't call me senpai we're not close!" Momo retorted.

"Yay! Then what do you want me to call you?"

"Uhm…uhum…call me Master Momo! But don't assume that I've already accepted you to join our practice! Okay?"

"M-master Momo? O-okay! So what do you want me to do now, master?" Kintarou asked confusedly.

Momoshiro didn't expect that Kintarou will ride on with him immediately.

_"He called me Master…cool…I didn't expect that I will make him believe as easy as this!"_

"M-master?" Kintarou repeated.

"Uhm…bring all my baggage because I can't carry them anymore!"

Kintarou immediately followed Momo's order. While the boy was encountering difficulty in carrying all the baggage, Momoshiro took advantage the situation and went happily to his Senpai Kikumaru.

_"Success!"_Momoshiro said to himself.

Also on that time, Kikumaru dragged Sakuno away from Kintarou. He dragged the girl as fast as he could until they didn't notice that the two of them were now walking beside Ryoma.

"W-wait senpai…why do we need to walk so fast?" Sakuno asked confusedly.

"Nya- We should reach the rented house before it gets dark! This place is very delicate especially for a cute girl like you!"

Upon hearing it, Sakuno immediately blushed. When Kikumaru saw the red face of the girl, he found it so cute causing him to lose his self control and hugged the girl.

"Eh…S-senpai……I-I can't breath!" Sakuno said between her breaths.

Ryoma gave a murderous glare upon seeing them. Later on a hard racket landed on Kikumaru's head causing Sakuno to get away from his senpai's hug.

"Yauch! Hey! Ochibi!" He paused for a while. "O-Ochibi? What are you doing here? Arggggg……No…It's not the question here! Why did you do that to me?"

"I grip it out!" He said non-chalantly. Then he gave his senpai a glare.

"Really? Then why are you looking at me like that? Nya?!" 

Ryoma didn't answered and just continued to glare into his senpai.

Sakuno immediately felt a hot tension between the two boys. She only felt relieved when his senpai Momo came out from nowhere.

Momoshiro was standing there for a long time and just observing his teammates so he witnessed the root of the conflict. He found the situation dangerous so he just decided to get himself involved.

_"What are you doing Kikumaru-senpai? Did you already forget our mission? Our mission is to protect Ochibi's Girlfriend not to steal his Girlfriend away from him!" _Momoshiro thought while he was walking towards his senpai.

"Hey! Kikumaru senpai!" Momo yelled. "Will you stop that now? You're just making the situa-" 

"You're just making the situation worst!" Momo was been cut-off by a casual voice from Fuji.

"Ya! You've got it right Fuji-Senpai!" Momo exclaimed.

Upon hearing it, Kikumaru dismissed his glare to Ryoma (However Ryoma was still glaring at him.) and begun to beamed cheerfully.

"Nya- I'm sorry Ochibi! I forgot that I went here to bring your girlfriend to you!" Then he pushed Sakuno to Ryoma's direction. Until that time, the girl still doesn't know what her senpai talking about.

Kikumaru then turned his head to Momoshiro.

"Nya- I'm sorry! I forgot our real mission!"

"I't's okay!...And we should also thanked Fuji-senpai for that!" Momo said while looking at Fuji.

"Uhm!" Fuji nodded. "I've heard what the both of you are planning to do, so I decided to involved my self here since I'm also one of your senpai!" He continued.

"I'm glad to know that you understand us!" Momo replied gladly. _"At least you can also help Echizen to understand what he feel right now!"_

"Okay!" Fuji exclaimed. "I think we should go now so that we can reach the rented house before it gets dark!" Fuji turned his eyes to Sakuno who was still can't relate to the conversation of the boys. He extended his hand to her.

"Sakuno-chan… hold my hand so that you won't get lost!"

The girl confusedly followed her senpai.

"Uhm...H-hai!"

"Ey Sakuno-chan! I also want to hold your hand!" Then Kikumaru went beside Sakuno and grabbed the other hand of the girl. The Three of them walked away briskly liked nothing happened.

"Eh? W-What's that?" Momoshiro didn't expect that his senpai Fuji will do the same thing as what his senpai Kikumaru does. _"I-I thought they've now understand!"_

When he remembered Ryoma, he worriedly turned his head to his Kohai's direction. He caught the boy still giving a deadly glare to their two senpai.

_"Arggg…what will I going to do now?...I can't believe that those two perverted guy are my senpai!" _His eyes referring to the three people walking away from them. _"Im going to be crazy!"_He shouted in his mind.

"Uhmm…E-Echizen?!"

Ryoma gave his senpai glare.

"Hn…" The tennis prince moaned harshly.

"Echizen! You know…Uhmmm…" Momo still can't find the right word to lessen Ryoma's anger. "Err…a ha…ha…! Maybe they're just joking!" He finally uttered. _"What did I've said…?" _

But it didn't help. Ryoma was still glaring at him intently.

"Uhmm…" Momo gave a mocking snort. Then he finally decided just to drag his kohai to their destination.

"Echizen, we better go now it's already getting dark! Don't be bothered anymore… they will surely take good care of Ryuzaki-chan!"

Ryoma lowered his cap and unwillingly followed his senpai.

"I'm not bothered about her!" He retorted.

"Yah!...Fine!" Momoshiro muttered.

The two of them reached the rented house before it got darks. They caught Tezuka discussing something. The two boys immediately went to the nearby chair and sat.

Ryoma begun furtively searched for Sakuno only to see the girl talking with his senpai Fuji.

_"Idiot __Fuji__ senpai!"_ He murmured.

Meanwhile, Tezuka started to discuss something important.

"Okay now! We are going to organize our room assignment." Tezuka gets a bowl filled with rolled paper inside it. He showed it to the group. "This bowl contained papers that have different sign printed in it. Each one of us will going to pick one paper and those three people who've got the same sign will going to share the same room!" He placed the bowl into at the table.

"You can now pick one paper!"

After a second, each people in the group finished to pick their chosen paper.

"I've got a star!" Fuji said casually. He turned his head to Sakuno. "How about you Sakuno-chan?"

Upon hearing his senpai, Ryoma immediately move closer to hear the girl's answer.

Sakuno nervously unfolded the paper in her hand

"I-I've got a star too!" She said with a smile.

When Ryoma heard Sakuno's answer, he lowered his cap to hide the annoyed expression that started to appear in his face.

"I'm glad to know that we're going to share the same room Sakuno-chan!" Fuji beamed to Sakuno. "I wonder who was the third person who'll going to share the same room with us!" Then Fuji glanced at Ryoma who just gave a deadly glare in returned.

"Uhmm…How about you Echizen?" Fuji continued.

Ryoma didn't answer. He just dismissed his glare to his senpai and curiously looked at the paper he was holding.

**_That's it for the fourth chapter! I hope this chapter isn't messy since I really rushed doing it! But Again Thanks for reading! I''ll really appreciate if you leave reviews even a suggestions and criticism! I really want to improve my writng! Please R&R! Once again "Domo arigato gozaimasu/ Maraming Salamat /Thank you very much!... to all of you!" nn…see you in the next chapter!_**


	5. Sleepless Night

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Prince of Tennis.

**_Here it is! Thanks for those people who read and review the previews chapters, and also for those who corrected me, you know who you are guyz, to all of you…thank you very very much!_**

**_ I really appreciate it! _**

**_I hope you'll enjoy this one! _**

**Chapter 5: Sleepless Night**

Ryoma started to unfold the paper in his hand.

"I've got a star too…" He said boringly.

"I'm glad to hear that, Echizen!" Fuji said while grinning.

The tennis prince just smirked a little in returned. He then looked again to the paper.

_"So I'm going to share the same room with Fuji–senpai…which means I'll also going to share the same room with Ryuzaki…" _The beat of his became fast. _"Err…so what? I should not care about it!"_

He then moved his head to Sakuno's direction. He felt that something in his mind kept on telling him that he should see the reaction of the girl with regards to the "star" that he got. He looked at the girl, but her face was blank. Their eyes met but the girl immediately turned her head away from him and begun to walks towards the window.

At once, he felt a twinge of frustration.

_"Why does her face so blank and cold…but when it comes to Fuji-senpai she was so cheerful…Does it mean that she doesn't want me to become her room mate…or maybe she simply doesn't care about it… "_

His face loomed as annoyance beset him. He hardly thumped his feet as he marched towards his baggage.

_"I don't care Ryuzaki……who do you think you are?" _He murmured.

Momoshiro immediately noticed the strange action of his kohai so he decided to ask him about it.

"Hey Echizen! What are you murmuring about? Huh?"

"It's none of your business!" Ryoma growled.

"Argh…Why are you talking to me that way? I'm older than you remember?! "

But the tennis prince just ignored him and begun to drag his baggage to his assigned room.

"Hey! Wait!" Momo shrieked. _"Maybe his mad again, but why?"_

Momo begun to turned his eyes and gaze at the entire house. All his team mate were now in their allotted room except Sakuno who was still gazing at the window. He went towards the girl.

"Waiting for someone?" Momo asked non-chalantly.

Sakuno turned her head to Momo's direction.

"S-senpai Momo? Uhm…Y-Yah! I-Im waiting for someone…"

"Who?"

"Ay…uhm…I'm waiting for…Kintarou-kun!"

"Kintarou-kun?...Oh! That guy!"

"He's not yet here senpai!" Sakuno whimpered as her eyes begun to become teary. "I-I'm worried about him!" She lowered her head.

_"What? His not yet here? Damn! All my baggage are still with him!" _Momo thought. When he noticed that Sakuno was now in the wearisome situation, he patted the girl to give some comfort.

"Don't worry! He is old enough to take good care of himself…besides he is a boy! Don't be bothered anymore! Let us now go to bed!"

Sakuno felt the concerned shown by her senpai for her.

"You can now go to your bed senpai! I know you're tired!" She said as she tried to manage a smile. "I'm not yet sleepy so I'll just wait Kintarou–kun to arrive…"

"But…"

"I'm okay senpai! Don't worry!"

"Uhm…If that's what you want!"

Then Momo finally left Sakuno.

**OXO**

Meanwhile, Ryoma's eyes were still flicked open. He was now lying on his bed but still he couldn't get to sleep. He hasn't even gotten a wink of sleep. Ryoma growled in annoyance. Actually, he knew exactly well why he couldn't get to sleep. His eyes traveled over the unoccupied bed beside him which supposed to be the bed for Sakuno.

_"That girl…" _He thought annoyingly. _"Why does she keep on making me like an idiot…now I couldn't sleep…and I don't want to think that it is because of her?" _He glanced at the door. _"But why she's still not here...Does it because of me?"_ He pulled his blanket to cover his body. _"Why not she just confronts me if she doesn't want me to be here!"_

"Still awake?" A voice from beside him interrupted his thoughts. It was his senpai Fuji. The both of them were sharing the same bed.

The tennis prince didn't answer but instead he just moved his head away from his senpai. 

"I know you're waiting for her…" Fuji continued.

"Shut up!" He scowled.

"Will you please stop hiding what you feel, it just making you looks like a stupid!"

"I said shut up! I don't know what you're talking about!"

Fuji sat up from his previous sleeping position.

"I know that you really care for her!" Fuji sighed as he begun to walks toward the door. "But while you're still not yet ready to admit…let me just volunteer my self to take care of her…" He opened the door. "However, be sure that you won't take it too long…because we never know…I might fall for her!" The door closed.

Ryoma begun to become really annoyed to his senpai. A burst of anger started to flow through his body. But he tried to control himself. He remained lying on his bed.

_"Baka…what do you think of your self……Ryuzaki's knight and shinning armor?"_

He tried to close his eyes tightly to put out in his mind what his senpai said awhile ago but he failed to do that. He can't help his eyes to glance at the door. He felt uneasy. He felt so irritable. Afterwards, the door opened. He pretend asleep but he still make sure that he will hear the conversation and he will still figure out what happening between the two. He let his eyes slightly open.

"Uhm…You don't have to worry senpai…I'm really okay!" He heard the girl said shyly.

"No! It's already late at night! You should now go to bed!" He slightly figure out that his senpai was dragging Sakuno to her bed.

"Ay…uhm…b-but how about K-Kintarou-kun?"

Upon hearing it, Ryoma shut his eyes closed.

_"Idiot!...That guy again?" _He shouted in his mind.

"Don't worry about him anymore Sakuno-chan! Tomorrow, I'll make sure that we will search for him beside there are some people that living here wherein he can ask for help if ever something happened to him…As for now, we can't do anything but to regain our strength so that we will have energy for tomorrow!"

He heard his senpai said. He remained his eyes closed but he kept on listening intently. After awhile, the room became surrounded by an eerie silence. That silence makes him bothered so much especially when he felt that his senpai still wasn't lying beside him. Later on, he slowly opened his eyes. He suspiciously turned his eyes to the bed beside him. His eyes widened. He tightens his grasped to his blanket. He begun to felt again the feeling he once felt when he saw Sakuno sharing moment with the annoying guy Kintarou Tooyama.

_ "Fuji-senpai…what the hell are you doing beside her! Who told you that you can sleep with my-"_ He paused for a while because of sudden realization. _"My……no…what am I thinking? She does not belong to me or to any body else…I should not be bothered if she slept with another guy!"_

He totally loses his sleepy mood now. He glanced again to the innocent face of the girl.

_"No! Why I still can't sleep!...arg…I can't take it anymore!" _He shouted in his mind as he started to rise from his lying position.

His heart pounded faster as he begun to walks towards Sakuno. He kneeled beside her. At once he glanced at his senpai to make sure that the guy was already asleep. He began to caress the braids of the girl. Afterwards, he found him self already pulling it.

"Ryuzaki…" He whispered.

"Hn." The girl moaned unconsciously.

When he saw the girl moved, he then realized that he haven't yet think of any reason to talk to her.

_"What am I going to tell her?…shall I'll tell her that she should not sleep beside our senpai……but what if she ask me why…what should I say……no…I can't… it is too awkward…" _

He again pulled the girl's braid but when he realized that the girl has no tend to wake up, he just decided find another way to depart the girl from their senpai. He started to grasped the Sakuno's hand firmly and dragged the girl in to the balcony of the room. Sakuno unconsciously followed the tennis prince.

Because of the tight grasped of the boy, Sakuno finally awakened but her eyes still can't open because of sleepiness.

"What do you want Kintarou-kun?" Sakuno murmured, half awakened.

Ryoma paused for awhile upon hearing the girl.

"Don't make repeat it again, it hurts my ears!" He growled sharply as he glared back at her but the girl was still sleepy enough to understand what he was saying.

"Kintarou-kun, please…I'm still sleepy…" Sakuno repeated.

Ryoma loosen his gripped to Sakuno's hand but he didn't expect that the girl can't still stand alone, all of sudden, she bumped in his shoulder.

"Ouch!" She yelled as he begun to open her eyes. "Kint-" She was again to repeat Kintarou's name when suddenly her eyes met his deadly glare. He was glaring at her intently.

"R-ryo-…err…E-echizen?" She said as he tried to recover from a mid-shock.

"Why? Did I frustrate you?" Ryoma asked coldly as he slowly turned his eyes to different direction.

"N-No…It just…I-I thought you are Kin-"

"You don't have to repeat his name all over again!" He snarled.

"Ay…I-Im sorry…"

Silence.

"Uhm…W-What do you-"

"Why did you suddenly change to me?" He murmured as he had no intent for Sakuno to hear it.

"Eh? P-Pardon?"

He glanced back at her but she immediately lowered her head. He then felt annoyed (It is for him) but actually he was hurt. He began to walk away from her.

"W-Wait! Echizen!"

He just ignored her call and instead he just continued to walk towards his bed.

"Wait!...Err…R-Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno uttered but still she was trying not to sound so sweet.

He can't help himself to stop and turned around as he heard his name being called by her again.

"Uhm…I-I just want to know…why did you woke me up? I-Is there anything that you need?" The girl blushed a bit and again, she still can't look at him directly.

Upon seeing her blushed, his heart pounded faster again. The truth was he really missed the fan girl before that care for him a lot but still he doesn't want to admit it.

"My bed is so uncomfortable for me…" He said non-chalantly as he begun to place a mattress on the floor. "I think it'll be much comfortable if I just sleep on the floor." He then sat at the floor. "You can just sleep at my bed…that is if you want?" He said trying to be casual as he began to lye on the mattress. He smirked furtively. "Unless you still want to sleep with our sadist senpai…" He added silently.

She then looked at him confusedly.

"But…you might get cold if you slept on the floor." Sakuno said in a profound tone.

"Hn." It is the only answer that Ryoma can give but deep inside him it touches his heart thoroughly.

"Anou…Arigato Gozaimasu Ryoma-kun… and…G-Goodnight!" She said as she slowly climbed on Ryoma's bed and carefully fitted her self there. _"I don't get it Ryoma-kun…but as for now… thank you!"_ She said to her self as her eyes started to close.

Upon hearing his name mentioned by her again and her caring voice, he finally fell asleep as his eyes slowly came to a close all on their own.

**_That's it for the fifth chapter! I'm so thankful that I've finished this chapter; I thought I can't do it because of too many household chores, Hu! Hu! Hu! But I will really try my best to finish this story until the summer vacation ended! By the way, I wondered if you guyz also write fanfic. If you have time, can you please tell me the title of your work since I don't have much time to search for them. I also want to read your works! Arigato Gozaimasu! Frendz! _**

**_Again Thanks for reading! I'll really appreciate if you leave reviews even a suggestions and criticism! I really want to improve my writing! Please R&R! Once again "Domo arigato gozaimasu/ Maraming Salamat /Thank you very much!... to all of you!" nn…see you in the next chapter!_**


	6. Bestfriend, I like you!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Prince of Tennis.

**_Here it is! Thanks for those people who read and review the previews chapters, and also for those who corrected me, you know who you are guyz, to all of you…thank you very very much!_**

**_ I really appreciate it! _**

**_I hope you'll enjoy this one! _**

**Chapter 6: Bestfriend, I Like You! **

The next morning, Sakuno woke up early to prepare their breakfast. While she was preparing, she still can't help on thinking about what happened last night.

_"Why did he ask me to move into his bed…I still don't understand it up to now…" _She paused for awhile. _"Oh no…I should not waste my time on thinking about that! Kintarou-kun is not yet here…I should finish preparing the breakfast as fast as I could so that I can immediately search for him……I wonder where he is now…" _She sighed.

"Ey! Sakuno-chan!" A yelled from Kikumaru interrupted her thoughts. When she turned her eyes around, she was surprised that all her senpai including Ryoma were already standing beside her.

"C-captain! Senpai!...Ohayo Gozaimasu……and Gomen-nasai…I-I didn't noticed you!" She said nervously as she tried to recover from sudden realization.

"It seems that you're really worried about Tooyama, ne?" Fuji asked in a profound tone. "You are still thinking about him…"

"Uhm…yes…er…no…I'm really sorry senpai…"

"D-Don't worry! It's okay Ryuzaki!" Momo exclaimed as he begun to walk towards the dinning table and started to eat breakfast. The other regulars also followed.

"Why don't you join us Ryuzaki?" Tezuka asked casually.

"N-No Thank you Captain! I-I've just eaten my breakfast!"

"Your foodstuffs are all delicious, nya!" Kikumaru said while beaming cheerfully to Sakuno. "I think you're now ready to be my wife…er…I mean Ochibi's wife! Nya! Ha! Ha!"

Sakuno flushed upon hearing it. It didn't escape Ryoma's noticed. Later on, a ketchup was been splashed all over Kikumaru's face.

"Hey Ochibi! Why did you do that? Nya?" Kikumaru retorted.

"Don't talk when your mouth is full…Idiot!" Ryoma answered non-chalantly. _"Damn Senpai! Don't flirt with her!" _Ryoma then gave his senpai a glare.

"You called me idiot! You-"

"Enough!" Tezuka cut them off. "We should not waste our time here! We still have many things to do!" Tezuka continued as he began to rise from his sitting position. He glanced at Sakuno. "Thanks for the breakfast Ryuzaki!" And then he left.

**OXO**

After they've finished eating their breakfast, all of them started to fix the things they will need in to the practice, when suddenly a knocked from the door interrupted them. It was happened that Momoshiro was the only person in the living room, so he was the one who opened it. He felt surprised when he saw the person in front of the door.

"H-He's already here!" A yelled from Momo immediately filled the house.

At once, Kikumaru rushed beside Momo to check what happened to him.

"Ey! What's the matter with you?" Kikumaru asked Momo.

"Er…K-kintarou Tooyama is already here!" He continued while pointing at Kintarou who was standing in front of the door. The boy didn't say anything but instead he just gave Momoshiro a glare. This made Momoshiro slightly irritated.

"Hey! Why are you glaring at me like that?"

"Er…You're asking me why?" Kintarou retorted as he harshly handed two pieces of baggage to Momoshiro. "Here's your baggage majesty! And thank you for leaving me behind! Because of you I've got lost!" Then he gave a mocking snort.

But Momoshiro just ignore him.

"Whoah…I'm glad you took care of them! I really missed my baggage!" He said cheerfully while hugging his baggage.

Upon seeing the annoyed expression that started to appear on Kintarou's face, Kikumaru immediately stopped Momoshiro on teasing the boy.

"I think it's not a good idea to test his patience! Not now! I think he's really angry with us!" Kikumaru whispered.

Momo began to look at Kintarou intently. He then noticed that the boy was so serious.

"I think you're right!" Momo said while beaming apologetically. He then turned his eyes to Kintarou. "Why don't you come in?"

The boy immediately entered the house without uttering a word. He went straight into the couch and lye there as he began to move his arm to cover his eyes.

Momoshiro sighed when he saw that Kintarou was still in a gloomy mood. He began to felt guiltiness.

"Okay! Fine! I got it! It's my fault……I-I'm sorry!" Momoshiro said with embarrassment in his voice.

But still Kintarou remained on his position and doesn't bother to look at Momo.

"I've forgiven you…now leave me alone…" Kintarou murmured.

"Really? Then why-" Momoshiro was about to make Kintarou irritated again when suddenly Fuji grasped his shoulder.

"Momo! Why don't you just leave him alone?" Fuji muttered while dragging his kohai away from Kintarou.

"But Senpai Fuji?"

"Maybe there's another reason why he's acting like that…Why don't you just tell it to Sakuno-chan? She's waiting for him since last night and I think it'll be good news for her!"

"O-Okay!" Momoshiro replied. _"But I'm going to tell it first to Echizen…"_

Momoshiro immediately went to the Tennis Prince who was still preparing his racket in the other room.

"Ehem!" He makes himself felt by Ryoma. The boy just glared at him in returned. Momoshiro then felt annoyed about the glare given to him by his Kohai.

"I wonder why most of the people this morning keep on glaring at me like that…" He groaned. "But anyway…I went here just to inform you that Kintarou Tooyama was already here so don't be surprised anymore if you caught him tagging along with Ryuzaki again! Err…that's all!"

When Momoshiro was about to go outside the room, a cold voice interrupted him for awhile.

"I told you! I don't care about her!" Ryoma groaned in a deep tone. His face immediately turned in to sour one.

But Momoshiro just ignored his Kohai and continued to walk towards the kitchen.

_"Yah!__ Fine! You're always telling me that you don't care about her yet your actions are different from what you are telling me!" _Momoshiro shouted in his mind.

He then continued walking until he reached the kitchen. He immediately saw Sakuno washing the dishes.

"Ryuzaki!" He waited until the girl pay attention to him.

"S-Senpai? Is there anything you need?" The girl beamed shyly.

"Anou…I just want to inform you that Kintarou Tooyama was already-"

Before Momoshiro completed his sentence, Sakuno immediately rushed into the living room.

"Arigato Gozaimasu Senpai!" She muttered while running towards the living room.

**OXO**

When she got in to the place, she began to search for Kintarou and she instantly saw the red-haired boy lying on the couch with his arms covering his eyes.

"Kintarou-kun!" She exclaimed excitedly.

The boy immediately rose from his lying position upon hearing the girl. Their eyes met but Kintarou immediately lowered his head. Still there was seriousness in his face. This made Sakuno felt a bit worried.

"Kintarou-kun?" Her cheerful voice turned in to a worried one. "I-Is there any problem?"

The boy didn't answer. He just pouted in return. When Sakuno realized that the boy has no tend to give any response, she decided not to ask him anymore. She just sat beside the boy. After awhile, the room became surrounded by an eerie silence. Each of them was thinking of other things and because of that they didn't noticed that Ryoma went outside his room and pass in front of them. The tennis prince felt a bit surprised upon seeing them but this feeling immediately turned in to hatred.

_"It's seems that she really missed that bastard…she didn't even noticed me…" _He growled. Later on, he closed the main door harshly. The hard bumped of the door created a noise that interrupted the silence of the two especially Sakuno.

_"Eh what's that?" _She asked to her self while looking at the door where Ryoma went out. Afterward, she glanced at Kintarou who was still in the same position at that time.

"Are you mad at me?" She finally decided to break the silence. "I-I know you're m-mad at me…" She tried not to stutter but she failed to do that as tears begun to fall from her eyes down to her cheeks.

When Kintarou saw that Sakuno was almost crying already, he immediately felt a pang of guilt so he decided just to speak up and talk to her. He patted the girl's back to give comfort.

"S-Sakuno-chan please don't cry!" He said nervously while trying to comfort the girl.

"You're not used to be like this! I-If you're mad at me…then tell me a-and let us talk about it…" She said while fighting a sob.

Afterward, Kintarou lifted the girl's chin and wiped the tears on the girl's cheek.

"I said don't cry…" He said while trying to manage a smile.

Sakuno looked at the boy' intently. Later on, the boy brought out a yellow rose from his pocket and gave it to the girl. The girl just gave a confused look in returned. She waited him to continue.

"Err…y-you know…a-according to the book I have read before…r-red stands for love…blue s-stands for loyalty and…y-yellow…stands for…jealousy…" He uttered the last word in soft tone rather than the other.

The girl just gave a more confused look. She still didn't get what Kintarou was trying to say.

The boy just sighed to ease the feeling of nervousness. He decided just to turn his head to other direction to avoid the girl's eyes because those just added tension to him.

"I-I'm not mad or anything…I'm just…a bit j-jealous!" He continued while pouting.

Upon hearing it, Sakuno glanced at the yellow rose she was holding and then again back to Kintarou.

"Jealous? B-But why? Err…T-To whom?" She finally uttered.

"R-Remember…w-when we were still on our way to this rented house…y-you leave me behind just because your senpai invited you to join them…"

"N-No! I didn't leave you!" Sakuno whined. "I thought you were walking together with Momo-senpai…"

The boy pouted more.

"But you don't even turned around to check if I'm still behind you…It seems that you really enjoyed their company…and you've forgotten me already…"

"K-Kintarou-kun…that's not true…" She said in a profound tone. "It just…"

"No! You don't care about me anymore! I don't want to hear your explanation!" Kintarou exclaimed wile covering his ears.

To his own surprise, Sakuno burst out laughing.

"You're so funny Kintarou-kun! You're so childish!" Then she patted the boy's head but the boy immediately moved her hand away.

"Stop it…it's not funny!" Kintarou retorted and glared at her.

"I-I'm sorry!" Sakuno said as she tried to stop her self from laughing. "I don't know how to comfort you but…you should not felt like that Kintarou-kun…I followed my senpai because I respect them as my senior…It is not because they're more important than you… "

Kintarou remained pouting because Sakuno's answered didn't satisfy him.

"Okay…I-I'm sorry…for what ever I've done, I'm really so-"

"I like you!" Sakuno was been cut-off by Kintarou. "I really like you!" he insisted.

Sakuno felt surprised upon hearing it.

"I-I like you too, Kintarou-kun!" She answered sweetly but deep inside her mind, she was so confused. "I really liked sharing time with you…y-you're fun to be with and-"

"I like you more than a friend!" He persisted without moving his eyes from her.

"W-What?" She asked in almost a whispered. She startled upon hearing it. "I-I can't underst-"

"I fall in love with you since we first met, Sakuno-chan!" He continued.

Sakuno's eyed widened. She didn't expect to hear it from the boy.

"I-I don't know what to say…" She muttered as her eyes became teary again. "I'm glad to hear that from you…the fact that over a million of people in the world, you have chosen me for you to love…when I'm with you, I can be myself…you're the only guy who became closed to me like this…a-and no one ever can replace you in my heart…" She then placed her hand on her chest, near her heart. She tried to manage a smile but after a while she frowned again. "But…I-I only loved you as my friend…as my best friend…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to hurt you…" A pearl of tears begun to flow to her cheeks but Kintarou immediately wiped it as he began to smile genuinely.

"I don't want to see you crying so please don't cry!" He said cheerfully.

"K-Kintarou-kun?" She felt guiltiness upon seeing the smile of the boy.

"Thanks for being honest with me…I'm still thankful that you really valued me as your friend…" He sighed as he continued. "I just want to know, if there's someone you like?"

"W-What?" She asked nervously. "Err… y-yes…but I-I think he doesn't like me so I'm trying to forget about him already…" 

"Really? May I know who that guy is?"

"I-I can't tell you…"

"O-Okay!" He sighed once again. I'll change the question! Do you like Echizen?"

"Er…W-What made you asked me that?" She startled.

"Because I've noticed that you always blush every time you see him and besides he's the only regular whom you called by first name…which means he's special for you…_OUCH!_"

"N-No…I-I mean of course!...All the regulars are special for me…not only him…"

"I think he likes you because I always caught him glaring at me every time we were together…" He continued.

"I-I don't think so…He's always like that even to others…" She frowned. "He's really cold…_even to me…_ " She added silently.

Kintarou noticed that girl frowned again.

"Hey! You're frowning again! Will you please smile for me?" Kintarou said thoughtfully.

"Uhm…Hai!" Then Sakuno gave her most astonishing smile ever. She really felt the concerned shown by the boy.

"Now, I can die happy!" Kintarou exclaimed.

"You're exaggerating!" Sakuno laugh once again. Then she looked at the boy intently. "Thank you!" She whispered. Then she gave him a warm hug and he hugged her in returned.

Unbeknownst to the two, there was a pair of cat-like eyes observing them.

"Kintarou-kun…" Sakuno said as she let go of Kintarou. "I think I have to go to my team mates now…I still have to bring them some drinks!"

"Okay! I'm going to take a nap for awhile! See you around Sakuno-chan!" He sighed again. _"I hope I can hug her a little longer…Too bad!"_

Later on, Sakuno was about to gone out the door when suddenly someone grasped her hand. She felt surprised upon seeing who the person was.

"R-Ryoma-kun? Wh-"

Without another word and to her utter surprise, Ryoma grabbed her hand harder, pulled her up to her feet, and forcefully dragged her away from the house.

"R-Ryoma-kun! Where are you taking me!" she whined, stumbling as he dragged her.

When he finally stopped, he tugged her in front of him with her back against a tree, slamming his hands on either side of her. Sakuno was trapped between his stretched arms; she had nowhere to go.

"Er…i-is there any p-problem?" She muttered nervously.

The boy didn't answer but instead he just moved closer. She felt her heart pound wildly. At the same time, she felt so confused about the strange action of Ryoma.

"What was that hug for?" He asked with a menacing gleam in his eye.

"I can't under-"

"I hate you!" Ryoma growled. He closed the distance between his lips and her ear, allowing a low-pitched grunt to escape his voice box. "I really hate you!" He insisted.

"W-what?" Sakuno felt a tremor go down her throat as she felt the hatred on the Ryoma's voice.

**OXO**

**_That's it for the 6th chapter! Sorry if I leave it like that guyz but I assure you that I will update it as soon as possible. Again Thanks for reading! I'll really appreciate if you leave reviews even a suggestions and criticism! I really want to improve my writing! Please R&R! Once again "Domo arigato gozaimasu/ Maraming Salamat /Thank you very much!... to all of you!" nn…see you in the next chapter!_**


	7. What I Hated Most

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Prince of Tennis.

**_Here it is! Thanks for those people who read and review the previews chapters, and also for those who corrected me, you know who you are guyz, to all of you…thank you very very much!_**

**_ I really appreciate it! _**

**_I hope you'll enjoy this one! _**

**Chapter 7: What I Hated Most**

"I hate you!" Ryoma growled. He closed the distance between his lips and her ear, allowing a low-pitched grunt to escape his voice box. "I really hate you!" He insisted.

"W-what?" Sakuno felt a tremor go down her throat as she felt the hatred on the Ryoma's voice.

Ryoma shot her an annoyed look, such an expression perplexed her; his eyes expressed clues of noticeable anger. The irritating moment she shared with Kintarou lingered in his memory.

His stare diffused her vision. Her body grew numb. Drops of tears started to form at the corner of her eyes.

"Y-You don't have to tell it to me…I knew it already…" She managed to mutter. She bit her lower lip as she fought not to sob.

When Ryoma saw that the girl was now crying because of him, he was been awakened by a sudden realization. He immediately felt a pang of guilt. His heart began to crash inside him. He opened his mouth but no words came out.

"Let her go!" A familiar voice interrupted the tense aura between the two. It was Fuji. Sakuno remained her head facing the ground while Ryoma turned his head to the direction of the voice. When he realized who the person was, he immediately moved away his stretch arms that entrapped Sakuno. However, the girl remained leaning on the tree and doesn't seem to notice what happening around her. Her face was blank but tears keep on flowing from her eyes. She was still astounded to what happened.

"What's the matter with you Echizen?" Fuji said in a more serious tone as he grasped Sakuno to his direction.

Ryoma avoided his stare. His senpai was asking for an explanation about his strange behavior that day but he didn't know how to answer.

"I know that you don't understand what you feel right now…" Fuji said with full of understanding in his voice. "…but…you should consider that she can't also understand you …" Fuji said while eyeing at Sakuno. The girl didn't seem to hear what they were talking about.

Ryoma lowered his cap upon hearing it. In fact he didn't know what made him act like that when he saw Sakuno with the damn Kintarou. Well, it was kind of typical of him to say insensible--almost heartless--things, but he never cared before. His senpai's words punched his ego a lot. After a while, Fuji decided just to bring Sakuno to her room leaving distress Ryoma behind.

**OXO**

Fuji assisted Sakuno up to her bed. He sat next to her, his hand moved smoothly over her shoulder.

"Sakuno-chan…" Fuji said in a very thoughtful tone. He lifted the girl's chin and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Please…don't cry…I don't want to see you like this…" He gave a warm smile.

"Fuji-senpai…" she whimpered, seeking comfort. "I can't understand why he hates me…Am I such a burden for him…_It hurts a lot… _"

"Why are you so affected Sakuno-chan?" Fuji said while grinning.

The girl just gave him a confused look. She was flustered by his question.

"You like him right?" He continued.

"I-I don't know…m-maybe…" She answered with a frown.

"You may abhor roses because of thorns or appreciate thorns because they have roses…"

"W-What do you mean senpai?"

"I mean…if you like somebody, you should learn how to accept whatever kind of person he was…even his dark side." He sighed. "Echizen is a kind of person who doesn't show any emotion…but see; he said that he hates you a while ago, which means he almost showed his emotion to you…" He patted the girl's head. "It's a sign that he might change and maybe you're the only person who can do it…don't be afraid to take a risk…you should know why he hates you…"

"B-But I don't know what to do?"

"Just be yourself!"

"D-Do you think-"

"Yes!" He cut her off. He bowed and rested a hand on the top of Sakuno's head reassuringly. "So don't worry too much, alright?"

"Hai! A-Arigato Gozaimasu senpai!"

Fuji grinned sympathetically. "Well! Glad to see you in high spirits again!" He exclaimed.

Later on, Fuji reached out and grabbed the hand of his kohai. "It's about time we go in, don't you think?" He said while beaming. "We still need to prepare our dinner!"

"Hai!" She exclaimed cheerfully.

**OXO**

After all the regulars had finished their practice on that day, Fuji called them up for dinner. When all of them came into the kitchen, the table was already prepared by Sakuno.

"Dinner is ready!" Sakuno yelled cheerfully.

All of the boys went to the table and ate their dinner as usual except Ryoma who just sat on the table and began to play with his chopstick. His brows furrowed upon seeing the cheerful aura that surrounded Sakuno. He didn't expect her to be like that after what happened to them at the backyard.

_"Phew…Looking intact as if nothing happened…Am I really worthless for her…" _He scowled.

Later on, Ryoma shook his head, as though that would make Sakuno vanish from his mind. _"No! Why should I be bother about her!"_

"Why don't you join us Ryuzaki?" Tezuka interrupted his thought.

"I'd love too! I haven't eaten dinner yet!" Sakuno answered cheerfully.

"Sakuno-chan, you can sit beside me!" Kikumaru said while beaming.

"No! She'll going to sit beside me!" Kintarou shrugged.

"Oh! I didn't noticed that you're here idiot monkey!" Kikumaru said while pointing at Kintarou.

"Now you know! So Sakuno-chan will be going to sit beside me!"

"No! Beside me!"

"Beside me!" 

"You shut up!" Momoshiro decided to break the war between the two. "She will going to sit beside Echizen, right? Ryuzaki?" He said with full of confidence.

Ryoma can't help but glanced to see the reaction of the girl.

"Uhm…I'm sorry but…I'm going to sit beside Fuji senpai!" She beamed nervously. This made Kintarou and Kikumaru's smile to fade same as Momoshiro. And it also made Ryoma's face to gloom.

"But, why?" Kikumaru and Momoshiro said in chorus.

"Eh? It's because…uhm…" She really didn't have any reason why he wants to sit beside Fuji. It just happened that she didn't want to engage to any conversation that involves her and Ryoma. She didn't want to talk about it right now. And she thought that being with Fuji was the best way to avoid being tease by her senpai.

"I-It's because-" She glanced at Fuji, craving for help. Fuji immediately got what Sakuno want to state.

"She promised me a while ago that she will going to sit beside me!" Fuji said casually while pulling the vacant seat beside him. "Sakuno-chan, please have a seat!"

"Uhm…Hai!" She said as she began to sit beside Fuji. She tried not to glance at Ryoma's direction, afraid that she might receive a deadly glare from him. Though, in the corner of her eyes, she had still figure out that he was glaring at her intently. She just tried to ignore it.

_" Ryoma-kun…Since you hates me …I know you don't want me to be here but…I would try to be strong for me to prove that I'm not the kind of person you should be hate for…" _She thought.

"Sakuno-chan…you're dishes were all breath-taking…it tastes like heaven…" Fuji's compliment interrupted her trance. "You did a great job!" He said while patting Sakuno's head.

"Ay…uhm…thank you!" She blushed.

Ryoma felt miffed by the scene right before him, seeing her blushed because of another guy always making him felt annoyed (or maybe making him felt envious).

"Hey! Your chopsticks are about to break!" Momoshiro whispered at Ryoma.

Ryoma jumped and loosened his grip on the endangered utensils. Momoshiro just watched his kohai recoil and deliberately took a sip from his juice.

"I have to go!" Ryoma mumbled as he began to rise from his sitting position.

"But…you haven't yet finished eating!" Momoshiro muttered. Their conversation is more likely a private than a public one so the others didn't hear what they were taking about.

The tennis prince just ignored his senpai and began to walk away. Momoshiro just stared at his retreating back. He decided not to interrogate any further and just watched his kohai walk away.

The other people in the table began to notice Ryoma.

"Eh? Where is he going to?" Kikumaru asked between munching. The others also turned their head to Momoshiro and waited him to respond.

"Err…uhm…I think he is still full! He!He!" He lied. But he really didn't know why Ryoma went away.

Sakuno began to frown upon hearing his senpai. His answer didn't convince her.

_"Maybe…he doesn't want the taste of my food…or he simply can't take seeing me anymore..." _She was fuming and sad at the same time.

**OXO**

After the dinner, all the regulars went back to their bed their bed early because of tiredness. All of them immediately fell asleep the moment their head touched the pillow except for one person who was still sitting on the front door and looking at the dark view outside. It was Ryoma.

He couldn't have thrown aside his anger so fast because of the sight he saw awhile ago. He couldn't sleep because of this.

In a while, the rain poured. The sound of the rain that fell from the roof just added to his distress mood. After a while, he rose from his position and went outside the house. He lied on the ground and didn't even seem to bother about the rain. He savored every drop of the rain that fell in his face as if it could drown the pain in his heat. He closed his eyes.

Later on, he heard footstep came toward him. He opened his eyes, and found Sakuno bending over him, a little too close for his comfort. Her face was tinted pink, her eyes large and starry, but it seems that she was worried. Her nut-brown braided hair spilled over her shoulders, and he had a sudden urge to touch it, and see if it was as soft as he thought.

"S-Sorry!" Sakuno drew back immediately. "I-I didn't know you were awake…" Avoiding his penetrating gaze, Sakuno immediately veered until her back faced him. "I-I just want you to know that if you stayed here a little longer…err…you might get sick and my grand mother will surely blame me if that will happen…" She stuttered, obviously she was nervous. "I-I have to go… I still have to wash the dishes…b-bye…"She left him without another glance.

But she was cut off when she felt that his hands had glided from her sides and enclosed her neck, pulling her in a warm embrace from behind. Sakuno gasped in shock.

Her body instantly got stiffened by his touch. There was something different with the way he held her: it seemed more--affectionate.

"I hate you…" his voice emanated near her ear, deepening as he continued, "I hate your long hair because- I found it so distracting everytime it's swayed by the wind... I hate your clumsiness because- it just keeps on urging me to hold you… I hate your warm smiles because- it always causes my heart to melt. But- what I hated most- is seeing you with another guy because it's driving me crazy…" His hug tightened. "…so crazy…" He knew it sounded stupid, now he was wishing he had kept his mouth shut, at least half of him, the other half of him kept talking.

Silence dominated them. Later on, Ryoma loosened his grasp to Sakuno's body. To her surprise, she felt his sturdy hand grab her hand and pulled her even closer to face him. He lowered his head.

Sakuno watched him stare at his feet, looking grim. She dug deeper into her flurried thoughts. He seemed sincere enough; and besides, maybe he wasn't too bad--now that he was being honest and all. The guy looked nervous with her silence. She sighed and gave him a reassuring smile. She placed her hand in to his forehead.

"Look! You have a fever now! Let us now go inside!" She said in concerned tone.

Ryoma shuddered when her palm touched his forehead, he slowly tilted his head to face her.

The world seemed to come to a stop as their eyes met; their closeness preserved as time prolonged for them. There was something about her scent that he found somewhat endearing to his senses. He took in the charming lines that outlined her cheeks, suddenly overwhelmed with redness. He really didn't know how to carry on, as he found himself enjoying her nearness.

**OXO**

**_That's it for the 7th chapter!_** **_Hey guys! Hope that this chapter hasn't bored you. If so, I will cry . JOKE! _****_ Sorry because it was too short! Again Thanks for reading! I'll really appreciate if you leave reviews even a suggestions and criticism! I really want to improve my writing! Please R&R! Once again "Domo arigato gozaimasu/ Maraming Salamat /Thank you very much!... to all of you!" nn…see you in the next chapter!_**


	8. Boys are Unpredictable

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Prince of Tennis.

**_Here it is! Thanks for those people who read and review the previews chapters, and also for those who corrected me, you know who you are guyz, to all of you…thank you very much!_**

**_I really appreciate it! _**

**_I hope you'll enjoy this one! _**

**Chapter 8: Boys are Unpredictable**

After changing clothes, the both of them made their way to their room. They were going to enter the room when suddenly Ryoma ceased on walking. The petite girl bumped on his back.

"Ouch!" Sakuno exclaimed. "W-What's wrong Ryoma-kun?" She asked confusedly.

"I'm going to sleep at your bed tonight…" He murmured without glancing at her

Upon hearing it, Sakuno felt that her heart had almost dropped from its place. She felt astounded to what she'd heard from him. She gave him a confused look however Ryoma was still looking straight. Later on, the boy headed his way to her bed, took off his shoes and lied down as thought it was his bed. Sakuno just sighed and decided not to protest anymore.

Sakuno sat beside Ryoma, when she glanced at him, she realizes that the lad's hair was been dumped by the rain, Sakuno handed Ryoma a towel for drying purpose but the boy just looked at her and didn't even touch the cloth.

This made Sakuno a bit confused.

"Eh? D-Do you want m-me to do it for you?" She stuttered. Ryoma rose from his lying position but it took awhile before he answered the girl.

"If you don't want, it's okay…" He finally muttered coldly.

"N-No…I-I mean…Okay…I'll do it…" She answered nervously as she began to rub the cloth against Ryoma's hair.

Afterwards, silence dominated them again. A couple of minutes passed but Ryoma was still staring at Sakuno causing the girl to feel a bit uneasy.

"Err…R-Ryoma…can you just bow your head so that I can dry your hair properly…" She stammered.

The boy didn't answer but instead he just slowly lowered his head.

Later on, Sakuno finally finished drying the lad's hair.

"H-How do you feel now?" She asked while blushing.

"Better…" He simply replied as he began to lie down again on Sakuno's bed.

The girl just sighed in return. Her heart was beating so fast and her brain was not working properly because of the pair of cat-like eyes that kept on staring at her intently. She felt so tense because of it. After awhile, she finally decided to break their awkward moment.

"W-Why don't you just sleep at your b-bed?" She asked hesitantly.

Ryoma's brow began to furrow.

"I still don't feel well." He finally muttered.

"I-I see." She managed to let a small nervous smile.

Later on, Sakuno rubbed her eyes as drowsiness slowly took over her.

"Sleep with me." He stated.

Sakuno blinked. Her mouth hung open at this peculiar proposal. A mixture of surprise and stress brushed over her face.

"W-What?" She stuttered. She glanced at Ryoma who just gave a look that seemed to say 'just follow me'

"Uhm…Well…" Sakuno began as realization hit her. "I-I think it'll be okay…" And then she lied down.

Silence.

"A-Anou…about what you've said-" Sakuno finally manage to say.

"There is something I want to ask you…" Ryoma's deep voice cut her off. His eyes

were more expressive than before.

"Eh? Wh-"

"You're too far...Move closer…" It was an order, not a request.

Upon hearing it, Sakuno blinked, as creepy thoughts began to run on her confused mind.

_"Move closer…Did he just tell me to move closer? But we're now only centimeter apart…if I moved closer…I might already feel his breath and the warmness of his body…and…" _She wagged her head as if she could vanish those stupid thoughts in her mind. _"No! Stop it… I should not think like that…" _She glanced once again at the boy. _"But… I wonder what running through his minds now…"_

"I said move closer!" He insisted. He then gave a mocking snort.

"I-It's okay Ryoma-kun…I-I can already hear you in this position…Don't mind more…" She startled. _"Sakuno…what are you doing…are you afraid of him…you're idiot…"_

Later on, Ryoma's eyes began to narrow irritably.

"Why?" Ryoma's cold voice interrupted her thought. "Do you think I'll do something against you?" His eyes were now colder than his voice. "You don't trust me…" He then moved his eyes away from her.

"N-No! Ryom-"

"But when it comes to your idiot Kintarou and to your senpai you're so trustful…" He growled. "Damn! They can even hold your hand and hug you any time…_how about me?_"

"W-Wait…t-that's not what I -"

"It's okay I understand!" He scowled.

Ryoma was about to rise from his lying position when suddenly Sakuno tugged her arm.

"R-Ryoma-kun…" She said in a profound tone. Ryoma didn't budge, nevertheless continued to listen. He just stared at Sakuno. The girl still can't find the right word to ease the tension between them so it took a while before she continued.

"I-I'm sorry…" She finally uttered with matching puppy eyes. "P-Please, can you lie again beside me?"

Her eyes were full of expression and it detained to him so gently that he couldn't think properly anymore. Without any thought, he lied again next to her but this time, a bit closer. He lied there casually, trying to resist the temptation to smirk.

"Thanks," she muttered. "And I'm sorry for the-"

Ryoma cut her off again. He wrapped his arms around her. Although surprised by his gesture, she didn't budge and just remained in her position.

"Can we stay like this a little longer…?" He murmured. "I feel so cold…I want your warmness…_Princess_…"

His words made her mind to race.

"Y-Yeah! Of course…" She felt astounded by his sudden change of attitude. Later on, she finally glided her arms around him. She hugged him back.

Ryoma shuddered when her palm touched his back. The feelings overwhelmed him entirety--too much that it rendered his brain useless--every single time.

No words were spoken between them. The both of them slept peacefully as the night went on its course.

**OXO**

"Assemble!" Tezuka's voice immediately filled the house. All of them started to line up upon hearing their captain, Sakuno and Kintarou at the back.

"I have an announcement to all of you!" He began. "There is an incoming typhoon in this area according to the news. They've suggested all of the people living here to evacuate as early as possible so… our training camp is now officially over!"

"What?" They all said in chorus.

"But?" Momoshiro and Eiji retorted.

"No more 'buts'! We still need to prepare our things. We will be going to depart after thirty minutes!" He then left.

After a couple of minutes, all of them were already inside the bus and heading their way to home with Fuji which was their driver.

Sakuno sat beside the window while Ryoma went beside her.

"Sakuno-chan! I want to sit beside you!" Kintarou whimpered as he began to occupy the vacant seat beside Ryoma. The tennis prince immediately threw him a deadly glare. Kintarou just ignored those glare and continued to pull Ryoma away. "Hey! Koshime! That's my place!"

Ryoma remained on his position. however he stretched and flung his legs to the seat in front of them so that Kintarou wouldn't reach Sakuno anymore.

"Hey! Take those-"

"Here!" Sakuno interrupted Kintarou. Both Kintarou and Ryoma glanced at the girl. The girl was handing a box of omusubi. This made the two boys a bit confused especially Ryoma.

"Kintarou-kun, here's an omusubi! I know you're here because you're hungry!" She gave a warm grin. Kintarou looked at Sakuno's eyes intently and he finally realized that those sympathetic look seemed to say 'It's not a good idea to start fighting with Ryoma-kun again'

The red-haired boy just sighed and beamed that seemed to say 'Okay! If that's what Sakuno-hime wanted to!' He got the box of omusubi on the girl's hand and then he gave her a charming wink while walking away.

The girl just gave a small smile as a response.

Ryoma noticed their relay of silent messages, and he couldn't help but released a mocking snort. He never realized the two were already that close.

_"So they were capable of talking without even uttering a word…Damn!" _He growled. He gave Sakuno a glare. This made Sakuno a bit confused because actually, she didn't get the idea on why Ryoma glaring at him again.

"R-Ryoma-kun?" She asked worriedly but Ryoma just ignored her. The tennis prince lowered his cap and pretends dead to the world.

_"Ryoma-kun!__ You're so unpredictable!" _Sakuno thought irritated. Actually, Sakuno had already forgotten that Ryoma told her about how much he really hates seeing her with another guy. She had a memory gap. Tsk.tsk. (Or maybe because she didn't actually know who's the title 'another guy' referring to.)

She just sighed and turned her head to the window.

Three hours passed and the trip had smoothly going when suddenly…

"CHRUGGGGGGGG……"

All of them surprisingly turned their eyes to Fuji as Fuji turned off the engine.

"What's going on?" Tezuka asked Fuji.

"We're out of fuel." Fuji replied. And then he glanced at the window. "I think there's no gasoline station near here."

"What?" The people at the back exclaimed. Tezuka just glanced at his panicking kohai.

"I think we better search for the nearest gasoline station or any possible help we can get in this place!" Tezuka finally ordered. "Tooyama, Kikumaru, you will come with me! Momoshiro, Ryuzaki, Fuji and Ryoma! You will be going to the nearby village and ask for any possible help they can give! At 12:00, let us meet again at this place! Clear?"

"Yes, Captain!" They said in chorus.

**OXO**

After almost an hour of walking, Fuji finally saw a house on one of the area in the village.

Sakuno began to knock on the door hoping someone was home, beside her was Fuji while Ryoma and Momoshiro just waiting behind them. Finally, after a while, a woman of mid 20's opened the door.

"Oh! What can I do for you?" She greeted them with a smile.

"Uhm…Ohayo Gozaimasu, Ma'am! We just want to know…uhm… do you know where can we find a gasoline station near here?" Sakuno said while grinning.

"A Gasoline Station? Are you new here? Don't you know that the nearest gasoline station in this place is still at the next village?"

"R-Really?" Sakuno said with frustration in her voice. And then she frowned. Upon seeing it, Fuji immediately patted the girl's shoulder.

"Sakuno-chan! Don't worry we will surely find another way!" He gave her a reassuring smile.

The girl managed to let a smile in return.

"Oh! How sweet!" The woman in front of them suddenly exclaimed. This made everyone surprised. They all turned their attention to the woman however the woman just ignored those looks and turned her attention to Sakuno.

"You're very lucky to have a boyfriend like him! He's so handsome at the same time very kind!" The woman continued.

This made Sakuno blushed different shades of red, made Fuji grinned mischievously, made Momoshiro sweat-dropped, and made Ryoma felt like his heart just got ripped open.

"Oh no! H-He is not my boyfriend! "Sakuno shook her head vigorously. "H-He's is just a friend from school!" She continued nervously.

"Just a friend?" Fuji's voice sounded beside her. "I'm hurt, Sakuno-chan!"

Sakuno glanced at Fuji. He was smiling, but god knows what really went in his head.

"Fuji-senpai...Im-"

"Do you think we look good together?" He glanced again at the woman. His smile was intact.

"Yes! And I think, you're also lucky to have her because she's so cute and charming! In short, you're a perfect couple!" The woman exclaimed again cheerfully.

"Thank you!" Fuji replied while beaming mischievously at Sakuno. The girl just gave him a confused and nervous look.

Fuji put his hand on Sakuno's back, and led her way out of the house.

"I'm just kidding Sakuno-chan!" Fuji finally whispered at the nervous girl beside him. The girl just sighed with a smile in return.

Sakuno looked back for a second, and saw the woman giggling silently. When Sakuno whirled around, Momoshiro and Ryoma were not behind them anymore. She just frowned upon seeing it.

"Sakuno-chan!" A manly voice interrupted her thoughts.

"F-Fuji-senpai…I-I'm sorry…what you are saying again?"

Fuji just let out a small laugh. Sakuno just looked at her senpai confusedly.

"My little sister is thinking of another man now! I'm jealous!"

"W-What…N-No…"

"I'm just kidding Sa-chan…and…I'm sorry for acting like that a while ago in front of Echizen…I know you don't want what I've done…"

"F-Fuji-senpai…"

"I didn't mean to be so harsh! It's just hard getting used to the fact that you already take Echizen seriously… and I'm really sorry. Forgive me…"

"Uhm…I-"

"I just want to test his guts if he really deserves to be your prince…_although I already knew that he deserve it…_I just want to make sure that he won't make you cry again!" Fuji then turned his head to Sakuno. He felt so surprised when he saw Sakuno almost crying.

"Hey! Baby girl! Why are you crying?" He said while patting the girl's head.

"S-Senpai Fuji…" She said between a sob. "Y-You're too kind…"

Fuji chuckled in return. Afterwards, he grabbed the girl's hand as he glided his finger through her palm. He held her hand firmly.

_"I hope this is not the last chance I can hold her hand…" _He laughed quietly. _"But I think Echizen will not allow me to touch her again…that possessive brat…" _He chuckled again. Later on, he turned his head to Sakuno who was still staring at him.

"Sakuno-chan…I think we better go now!" He said while grinning warmly.

"Hai!" The girl answered with pleasure.

**OXO**

Meanwhile, the tennis prince sat at the bus seat harshly while Momoshiro just occupied the seat beside his distraught kohai.

"Hey! Echizen! Senpai Fuji is just kidding!" Momoshiro said nervously.

"Really? Who cares?" Ryoma scowled without looking at his senpai. He lowered his cap and pretended to sleep again. This made Momoshiro annoyed.

"Who cares? Then why are you acting like that?!"

"Shut up!"

"Arg…Will you please stop pretending that you don't care! Because I know that you really care……About Ryuzaki!"

Ryoma immediately threw his senpai a murderous glare. Momoshiro just gave a harsh snort in return.

"You're glaring at me again! Your glare can't kill me!"

"I said shut up!" He yelled with irritation in his voice.

"Peh! You're jealous right, why don't you just admit it and tell it to her!"

Ryoma immediately stood up and grabbed his senpai's collar. He felt that his ego was been hit by a truck.

"I'm not!"

"You're insecure of Fuji senpai!"

"I'm not!" He grabbed Momoshiro's tighter. But Momoshiro just gave him a sympathetic look. Later on, he finally decided to let go of his senpai's collar and then he lowered his head.

"I think the woman in the village is right! They really looked good together…_And I think __Fuji__ senpai can give her everything she wants rather than me…_"

"Stop acting like a loser Echizen!" He sighed. "My friend Ryoma didn't leave any battle without winning it!"

Ryoma just gave his senpai both a confused and amazed look. He didn't expect to hear that from his naughty senpai.

"Senpai…" He murmured. "…You're so dramatic!"

"Baka Echizen!" Momoshiro gave Ryoma a slight punch on the head. "Tell him that Ryuzaki is yours!"

Ryoma just smirked in return.

"Mada Mada Dane Momo senpai!"

**OXO**

After almost two hour, Fuji and Sakuno finally came back to the bus together with a gallon of gasoline.

"Well come back!" Ryoma greeted them non-chalantly as he began to grab Sakuno's hand. She felt a bit surprised feeling his warm hand in hers but she quickly ignored it and followed next to him leaving two chuckling senpai behind.

"Am I really welcome here?" Fuji yelled teasingly but the boy just ignored him.

"Welcome back senpai! I'm glad that you finally found a fuel for our bus! Now all we have to do is to wait for our captain!" Momoshiro exclaimed cheerfully while pushing Fuji to the driver seat.

"Yeah, Right!" Fuji replied. He looked back at his kohai for a second and then he smirked.

**OXO**

Meanwhile, Ryoma immediately lied down as they reached the bus seat with his head on Sakuno's lap.

Sakuno felt surprised because of it.

"R-Ryoma-kun?" She flushed.

"You punched my heart two times this day, Ryuzaki!" He said in teasing tone without opening his eyes.

"W-What I-I…"

"You don't have to explain! Here's your punishment anyway!"

"P-Punishment?"

"Whether you like it or not…you will be my pillow this whole trip!"

Sakuno felt so surprised upon hearing it but this feeling immediately turned in to contentment.

_"You're absolutely unpredictable, Ryoma-kun!"_ She began to stroke Ryoma's hair. _"I'm sorry for not knowing that I've already punched your heart two times this day…but…" _She laughed to herself. _"But this punishment is really weird Ryoma-kun!"_

Ryoma gave an unconscious smirked as a reply.

**OXO**

**_That's it for the 8th chapter!_** **_Hey guys! Sorry for the late update! Again Thanks for reading! I'll really appreciate if you leave reviews even a suggestions and criticism! I really want to improve my writing! Please R&R! Once again "Domo arigato gozaimasu/ Maraming Salamat /Thank you very much!... to all of you!" nn…see you in the next chapter!_**


	9. What's Going On Ryoma?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Prince of Tennis.

**_Here it is! I'm really sorry for the super duper late update! It is because of some school enrolment circumstances; blame our school…hehe…' '_**

**_Again, Thanks for those people who read and review the previews chapters, and also for those who corrected me, you know who you are guyz, to all of you…thank you very much! _**

**_I really appreciate it! _**

**_I hope you'll enjoy this one! _**

**Chapter 9: What's Going On Ryoma?**

"Yahoo! We are already here!" Momoshiro and Kikumaru yelled cheerfully.

"Welcome back!" Sumire greeted in return.

"Thanks Sensei!" All of them answered in chorus.

"Hmm…I think your training camp helps you a lot, isn't it?"

"I think so, Ryuzaki-sensai." Tezuka answered on behalf of his teammates. "But I think we still need to work hard on the remaining day before the match."

Sumire just nooded in return. Once again, Tezuka proved to her how deserving he was to be a captain of Seigaku.

"Team!" Tezuka turned to his teammates. "As for now, I think you better go home and take a rest! Tomorrow will be hard day for sure!"

"Yes, Captain!" They all replied cheerfully.

**OXO**

After Tezuka and Sumire made their way to the office, Eiji and Fuji also made their way to home. Meanwhile, Momoshiro remained on standing behind Ryoma. He was waiting for his kohai but the lad was too busy glaring at the two people talking nearby them. They were Sakuno and Kintarou. He immediately understands the situation so he decided not to interrogate anymore. He just waited patiently.

"Sakuno-chan, will you please make a promise that if I won my match versus koshime, you will going to cook a 'curry' for me as my price?" Kintarou asked sincerely with his eyes directly at Sakuno. This made Ryoma's eyes to furrow.

"K-Kintarou-kun…Uhm…" It took a while before she answered. That simple question made her mind so confuse.

"Anou…"

"Please… "

" I-I…uhm…"

"Please…Best friend?!" He insisted with sparkling eyes.

"B-Best friend?!" She lowered her head. That word seems to vanish all her worries away._ "I guess it'll be okay…even though he's Ryoma's opponent on our next Tennis match, he is still my friend…my best friend…and beside… " _She glanced at Ryoma who just gave a deadly glare in return. She sighed. After a while, she looked again at Kintarou and gave the boy a reassuring smile.

"Sa-chan?" The red haired boy asked confusedly.

"Uhm…I promise!" She muttered.

"Really?" Kintarou's voice back again in to a cheerful one. "I will be going to win, I promise! And-"

A tennis ball that hits his head cut him off. When he whirled around, he found out that Ryoma was the one who threw it.

"Arg…why did you do-"

Before he even had the chance to finish his statement, Momoshiro's grasp cut him off again.

"Hey! Let me go! I'm still need to talk my Sakuno-chan!" Kintarou retorted while trying to get away from Momoshiro's hold.

"You talkative monkey! Can't you understand? We need to go home now and take a rest!" Momoshiro blurted as he dragged the helpless boy away from the place.

"I'm not yet tired and beside I'm not your teammate so you don't have the right to regulate me!" Kintarou insisted.

"Whatever!" Momoshiro replied non-chalantly. He looked back for a second and saw that Sakuno and Ryoma were still looking at them.

"Sakuno-chan, Goodbye!" Kintarou yelled while pouting. The girl just waved her hand in return. She was smiling worriedly.

"…Baka Koshime…" Kintarou added while glaring at Ryoma.

Momoshiro winked at Ryoma who was beginning to get angry again. The boy just gave a meaningful look as a reply.

"Goodbye! See you tomorrow!" Momoshiro said as the both of them slowly disappeared leaving Ryoma and Sakuno behind.

Ryoma was facing the ground with his hand on his pocket while Sakuno just stared at the distraught lad, feeling guilty of what she had promised to Kintarou. Later on, she finally decided to break the silence.

"R-Ryoma-kun a-about the-"

"A price for him? You don't think I can beat your idiot Kintarou?" He hissed nonchalantly, angry eyes boring into the ground beneath him.

His voice made her shiver again as always.

"Uhm…N-No… I didn't mean it like that…-"

"Fine." He pretended to ignore her. He veered until his back faced her. "Then go cheer for him…" His hands clenched tightly, fingers digging into each of his palms. Later on, he dragged his feet as he slowly walked away.

"W-Wait Ryoma-kun!" She exclaimed. But the boy didn't seem to hear her and just continued to walk away.

"Ryoma-kun…please listen…" Sakuno said in the most pleasing tone Ryoma had ever heard. This made him to cease on walking but still he didn't look back at her.

Sakuno began to walk towards Ryoma who was obviously still mad at her. She tugged his arm. This made Ryoma a bit surprised but he tried to avoid showing any sign of sympathy.

"A-About that promise…" She sighed, trying to ease the feeling of nervousness. "I don't really know how to cook a 'curry'…" She sighed again. Upon hearing it, Ryoma immediately turned his head to Sakuno and gave the girl a confused look.

"I-I do believe that you can beat him up that's why I made that promise…" She let a small nervous laugh. "I know I don't have to cook a curry anymore…_since I don't really have any idea on how to cook that dish…_" She tried to make an eye contact with Ryoma but the boy immediately lowered his cap.

After a while, he grasped her hand and dragged her. The girl didn't complain anymore (since she know that it was really her fault) nevertheless followed Ryoma. After that, the moment grew awful quiet.

_"Ryoma-kun…say something…" _She whispered to herself, her heart pounding in worry. She assumed that he was still angry.

"I'm going to beat him up." Ryoma finally muttered. _"…So that you don't have to cook for him anymore…"_

She lifted her head right away and turned to him. Taken aback at first but recovered shortly after. She lowered her head again and beamed shyly upon realizing what he had said.

"A-Are you still mad at me?" she asked without gazing at him.

To her surprise, the boy didn't answer. This made her worry grew more.

_"Maybe I offend him so much…he's still mad…or maybe because… " _She glanced at the blank face of the boy. "A-Anou… about Kintarou-kun…" She managed to mutter.

He gave a mocking snort upon hearing his rival name mentioned by her but Sakuno didn't notice it and just continued to explain.

"He is just a friend…" She continued without stuttering.

Ryoma felt so astounded upon hearing it from her. He glanced at the troublesome girl beside him. Their eyes met but Ryoma immediately turned his head to different direction to hide the bliss that started to appear on his face. He smiled furtively.

"Am I asking about that?" He muttered blankly pretending uninterested about what she had said but deep inside him, he felt so satisfied upon hearing it from her.

"I-I just want you to know…oh just forget it!" She mumbled with slight irritation on her tone.

He glanced at her again and caught that the girl was pouting cutely while shifting her feet timidly. This made him blush a bit upon seeing her cuteness.

"There's no way I'd ever hate you…"Ryoma muffled a reply Sakuno had to strain to hear.

"P-Pardon?" She said almost with a teary eye. But Ryoma didn't budge to say something and just continued to walk until they finally reached the Ryuzaki's residence.

Sakuno was about to enter their gate when suddenly Ryoma pulled her close to him.

"Be sure that you'll come tomorrow." He muttered in her ear and then he walked away. Sakuno still blushed although she didn't really understand the situation at all.

_"Kinda weird…" _She thought.

**OXO**

The next morning Sakuno and Tomoka went to the tennis practice early but to their surprise, the court was already filled with people and half of those people were from the other school.

"Tomo-chan, we're going to be late…" Sakuno whined while walking through the lobby towards the court.

"You don't have to hurry! Look, the regulars were not yet complete! And beside they were still fixing the court!" Tomoka exclaimed.

"But…" Sakuno muttered in a worried tone. _"If I came late, Ryoma-kun will surely get mad at me again…I think he hasn't forgiven me yet about yesterday…"_

"Don't worry! Just relax!" Tomoka beamed mischievously while gazing at all the guys passing in front of them.

"Tomo-chan…_stop__ it…_" Sakuno felt a bit embarrassed upon seeing what her friend doing.

But Tomoka just ignored her.

"I never thought that this practice will be very exciting as this…" Tomoka giggled. "Look! There are so many cute guys around! He! He!" She yelled.

"Tomo-chan, you don't have to shout it out!" She retorted but her friend didn't seem to hear her.

"Oh look! There's a cute guy there! I want to know his name!" Tomoka yelled with full of excitement in her tone.

"W-Wait Tomo-chan!"

Before she can even march to follow her friend, Ryoma stepped half-way in front of her, directly in the path of her sight—partly blocking her from her view. His eyes were so cold as ever.

"What are you doing?" He asked coldly. "Gazing at the damn guys around?" He growled, emanating a sign of bitterness.

She took several steps backward in fright, shocked by the sudden appearance of the lad.

"R-Ryoma-kun?" She mumbled nervously. "…N-no…its not-"

"Oi! Ryoma idol! What are you doing here?" Tomoka cut Sakuno off.

Ryoma just shot her an annoyed look in return.

"Eh? What's the matter?" She asked innocently at Sakuno but the girl just gave a nervous sigh in return.

"Excuse…" A manly voice interrupted their conversation. Everyone turned around and saw a guy standing 5'11, with semi-chinky eyes, with a dark-blue hair and wearing a Shohoku uniform.

"K-Kaede R-Rukawa? Is that you?" Tomoka yelled in amusement.

Upon hearing the guy's name, Sakuno's eyes lit up right away.

"K-Kaede Rukawa?" Sakuno flushed madly.

"Sakuno-chan, our 'Rukawa idol' is here! We're really glad, isn't it?" Tomoka screamed. "L-O-V-E Rukawa! Rukawa!" She cheered without bothering about what other people might think about her now.

Meanwhile, Sakuno felt so astounded upon seeing her long time idol. She had almost forgotten that Ryoma was standing beside her.

"R-Rukawa-kun…I-I'm a biggest fan of yours…" She looked at her feet while fidgeting her fingers.

_"Biggest Fan?"_Ryoma thought blankly. But it's not actually blank, it was just he didn't know what to think on that time. He felt a mixed emotion; envious, anger and hurt. It was not because he didn't want people ignoring his presence like that but because it was Ryuzaki; not an ordinary fan girl for him. He was not used to be treated that way. He didn't want to see her idolizing another guy aside from him. He can't help but make a comparison between him and Ryuzaki's long time idol. And then, he felt insecurities strikes him again. Just like how he feel when his Fuji senpai was around. He knew, it was too childish and non-sense but he couldn't stop his heart, it was slamming inside him.

After a while, the stranger begun to talk again, not bothering on how his appearance affects the three people beside him.

"Where can I find a basketball court near here?" He asked non-chalantly, eyeing at Sakuno and ignoring the loud Tomoka that kept on approaching him.

"H-Huh?" She almost faint because of his manly voice. She didn't expect how true the sayings 'First love never dies' (even though it just more likely to be a puppy love because to tell the truth, Sakuno had forgotten about his admiration towards Kaede Rukawa because she was still a in elementary when she becomes his fan girl but when she saw him again, she still can't help but to blush.)

"W-Well…" She sighed again trying not to stutter. "I-I think it is on the-"

Before Sakuno finishes her sentence Ryoma's irritated voice cut-her off.

"Why don't you just look for it all by your self. You're wasting our time…" Ryoma growled while glaring at the older lad.

Sakuno felt dumbfounded because of what he had heard from Ryoma. She didn't expect that he will go to be rude as that. She glanced at Rukawa and then again to Ryoma.

"R-Ryoma-kun…" She muttered worriedly.

Ryoma continued to glare at Rukawa; however, the older lad just gave a bored look in return. Later on, the basketball prodigy began to walk away from them without saying anything.

Sakuno shot a puzzled look at Ryoma though the boy was still frowning intently at the direction where Rukawa had disappeared.

"W-Why did you do that Ryoma-kun?" She asked worriedly, severely baffled by his sudden infuriating attitude. But Ryoma just ignored him and began to walk away.

"Sakuno-chan, what's gong on?" Tomoka exclaimed innocently, not knowing what happening around her.

Sakuno heave a sigh before she answered.

"…Uhm…I cannot tell you about it right now…because it kinda complicated…_I can't also understand it…_" She plastered a fake smile. "Uhm…Tomo-chan…I'm not going to watch the tennis practice for today because I remember that I still need to wash our clothes…bye now…" She grunted and then she left, leaving a confused Tomoka behind.

"Eh?" The loud girl finally muttered.

**OXO**

While walking along the corridor, Sakuno still can't keep her self on thinking about the incident awhile ago.

_"Why did he do that? Did I offend him again? That was so rude…I'm beginning to get worried about the way he acts these past few days…" _She thought worriedly. _"Sometimes I can't really get him…" _She sighed.

**OXO**

Meanwhile, Ryoma went to the court with his mind in dilemma. He grabbed the nearest Ponta that he saw on the bench and began took a sip without considering whether somebody owned it. And sadly, the Ponta wasn't showing its magic either.

_"Peh…it's tasteless..." _He took a sip again. _"Ryuzaki…"_He scowled, emanating a dark aura. _"…You're so dense…"_ _  
_"Hey! That's mine!" Momoshiro retorted while pointing at the can of Ponta but the lads seemed so busy on his own thought. 

"Hey! Echizen are you drugs?" Oishi grunted.

"He looks like crazy!" Kikumaru exclaimed.

"Yeah…crazy in love…" Fuji muttered while grinning impishly.

Upon hearing Fuji, Ryoma immediately regained his mind. He flung his racket to his shoulder and began to walk towards his senpai.

"Let's have a match!" He demanded coldly.

Although surprised by his gesture, Fuji immediately flashed a genuine smile.

"Mada Mada Dane Echizen!"

**OXO**

After the long wait, the most awaited match between Seigaku and Shitenhouji Junior High finally came. It was still early but the court was already overflowing by people.

"Echizen, you're in the first match." Tezuka grunted. "I think you already knew who your opponent was…just be careful…"

"Okay." He simply replied while tying his shoelace. Actually, he really didn't pay much attention to his captain's word because on that time he was so bothered. After a while, he glanced again at the main gate.

_"Damn, I wonder where she is now." _He thought.

**OXO**

**_That's it for the 9th chapter! It was a bit rush, I'm sorry! I'm already working on the last chapter of this story…phew… Again Thanks for reading! I'll really appreciate if you leave reviews even a suggestions and criticism! I really want to improve my writing! Please R&R! Once again "Domo arigato gozaimasu/ Maraming Salamat /Thank you very much!... to all of you!" nn…see you in the next chapter!_**


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